Virgil Abloh’s been under fire in the past 24 hours for his comments regarding the recent protests across the country, especially when it came to his “streetwear is dead” comments. Abloh’s comments came across as slighting the racial injustices that people are fighting for across the country over brick-and-mortar stores that can be replaced. 

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

“Yesterday, I spoke about how my stores and stores of my friends were looted. I apologize that it seemed like my concern for those stores outweighed my concern for our right to protest injustice and express our anger and rage in this moment,” he said.

“Buildings are brick and mortar and material things can be replaced, people can’t. Black lives matter. In this moment, those other things don’t,” he wrote. “People who criticize ‘looting’ often do also as way to make it seem like our fight against injustice isn’t legitimate. I did not realize the ways my comments accidentally contributed to that narrative. As mentioned yesterday, if looting eases pains nd further the overall mission, it is within good standing with me.”

Immediately after, he explained the $50 donation that he’s been hounded over. He explained that it wasn’t the only donation that he made and apologized that it came across that way. “I can understand your frustration if you think my contributions were limited to $50. purely false when it comes to the total. I have donated $20,500 to bail funds and other causes related to this movement.”

Read his entire apology below. 

Celebrities all across the country have been using their platforms and power to react to the recent protests in response to the murder of George Floyd. This weekend, Lizzo took to Instagram to share a powerful video message speaking out against police brutality and civilian complacency. 

In the video, Lizzo first addresses the Black community, whom she reminds to not carry the weight of educating ignorant people. “It is exhausting and if they don’t see it or believe it by now, they don’t want to. There are Googles and there are books, they can do that for themselves,” she said. She also addressed and identified white people who have chosen neutrality as part of the process, adding “I know you’re not racist, but you have to be more than that. You have to be anti-racist. Speak up.” She then praised influential figures who have spoken out and assisted in organization efforts for protests. She concluded the video by adding, “Now’s the time. The world is standing still and waiting for action. Let’s make progress.”

Lizzo wrote in the caption of the short video, “Protest is not the end of progress, it is the beginning. I wonder what would happen if all the big companies and celebrities who have showed support on social media came out and used their platform to let activists and protesters speak and be seen?” 

In addition to the video, the “Truth Hurts” singer also shared this tweet to her Instagram page, acknowledging the different ways to show resistance. 

The 25-year-old granddaughter of Joe Jackson, Yasmine Jackson shared this weekend that she had been stabbed seven times during a racially motivated attack in Las Vegas. 

Yasmine, who is the daughter of Joh’Vonie Jackson, Joe’s child with ex Cheryl Terrell, took to Instagram to share details of the brutal attack including images of her battered body. The attack, which Yasmine claims happened right near her house in Vegas, involved a woman chasing her down and stabbing her. 

Yasmine wrote, “She said it’s because I was a n***** and that’s all I could hear while I was being stabbed. I can’t move my neck at all. I’m scared to be alone.” 

She also shared that at first, no one rushed to help her although there were people there witnessing the violent attack. She added that finally, “Until someone did, actually a few people did & I am thankful for you. I pray to God that if you have any kind of hatred in your heart towards black people that you heal it. I didn’t deserve this, nobody does.” Yasmine added that she is still proud to be black, despite the attack. She tagged prominent civil rights activist Shaun King in the caption, asking for assistance in getting the attack acknowledged as a hate crime. King responded to her call for help in her comment section.

Yasmine, who works as a nurse, later shared that the charge has been upgraded to attempted murder.

Yasmine’s mother Joh’Vonie also shared the images to her page, writing, “Look what this Woman did to my daughter @yasminejackson_ she tried to kill my daughter for being Black. My daughter has a good heart and has dedicated her time as a nurse to help others.” 

We hope the attacker is brought to justice soon. 

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As protestors across the country took to the streets to demonstrate this weekend, police responses to the protestors have grown increasingly forceful. On Sunday night, Louisville police officers shot and killed a man during a protest against police brutality in the city. 

Sparked by the death of George Floyd by police, protestors in Louisville had gathered in the parking lot of a supermarket Sunday night. In a press conference, Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) Chief Steve Conrad explained that his officers and the National Guard were called to the scene at the supermarket after midnight and when they arrived, they were met with a spray of bullets. LMPD and the National Guard fired back into the crowd, and one man was pronounced dead at the scene. A local media outlet has confirmed that the victim was a 53-year old man who owned a local BBQ spot, David McAtee. According to friends and family from various reports, McAtee was a good person, who was known to give police officers free meals. His mother called him a “community pillar.”

Police officers in Louisville – Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

Conrad added that the LMPD is currently interviewing people of interest in the case, and will keep the public updated on the investigation. Conrad acknowledged, “I think it’s very, very clear that many people do not trust the police. That is an issue that we’re going to have to work on and work through for a long time.”

The civil unrest from residents in Louisville comes in solidarity of both George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old Louisville woman brutally shot and killed in her home by LMPD in March. 

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Bob Kroll, the president of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis, is under fire after a controversial letter the union chief wrote to federation members on Monday was leaked. Former Minneapolis Police Department chief Janee Harteau obtained a letter Kroll sent to union members and took the letter public on Twitter, calling Kroll a disgrace and urging for him to turn in his badge. 

In the letter, Kroll addressed fellow union members and praised police in their handling of the protests, writing they’d done “excellent work” in "keeping your coworkers and others safe." Kroll continues to then write that the police are currently up against a “terrorist movement” and shared how he wished the police department had granted officers permission to use “gas munitions and less lethal mutations” to stifle protestors. 

Donald Trump shakes hands with Minneapolis Police Union head Bob Kroll at a rally, October 2019 - Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Most alarming of all, Kroll attempts to justify George Floyd’s murder. He writes, “What is not being told is the violent criminal history of George Floyd. The media will not air this. I've worked with the four defense attorneys that are representing each of our four terminated individuals under criminal investigation, in addition with our labor attorneys who will fight for their jobs. They were terminated without due process." Read the full letter below. 

A couple of Facebook employees decided to stage a virtually boycott today, in response to the company’s stance on Donald Trump’s posts and in light of the protests for George Floyd’s murder. The virtual walk-out involved employees of Facebook requesting time off and creating an out-of-office response to their email accounts alerting senders of their organizing.

As pointed out by numerous publications, the phrase Trump used, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” originated from the 1960s, when a white police chief in Miami responded to civil unrest in black neighborhoods. Trump denied any knowledge of this racially charged history when he himself used the slang when attempting to offer an explanation for his choice of words.

The particular post is still available to view on Facebook, despite fellow social media site Twitter hiding the tweet and applying a notice over it for violating site rules about glorifying violence. Facebook did nothing. 

Where some Facebook employees are virtually protesting in response to this, others have started to petition for more diversity within the company, while others have threatened to resign if Zuckerberg doesn’t change his stance.

Over the weekend, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg penned a lengthy statement defending the company’s position to keep the violent post up on the site that actually contradicts a previous vow Zuckerberg made to Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. A few months ago he said, “If anyone, including a politician, is saying things that can cause, that is calling for violence or could risk imminent physical harm…. we will take that content down.” In Zuckerberg’s response, however, he states: “we think people need to know if the government is planning to deploy force.”

A spokesperson for the social networking site said in a statement, “We recognize the pain many of our people are feeling right now, especially our Black community,” they continued, “We encourage employees to speak openly when they disagree with leadership. As we face additional difficult decisions around content ahead, we’ll continue seeking their honest feedback.”

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Lil Dicky has been a Professional Rapper for years, having faced many difficult conversations on privilege and appropriation throughout this career. Now, coming off the success of his debut FXX series Dave, a loosely autobiographical reflection on his own rise to hip-hop stardom, LD’s brand is bigger than ever. As such, the impact of his words have also magnified, and Lil Dicky took to Instagram to share a powerful statement on racial injustice, his close friendships with Elz and GaTa, and his role in the ongoing fight. 

Andrew Toth/Getty Images

In the first of four slides, Dicky admits that he spent the majority of his life oblivious to the severity of systemic racism. “I thought to myself ‘how can someone actually be racist, that’s so illogical and dumb,'” he admits. “I figured something so clearly wrong, and so legitimately evil could never continue to survive in today’s enlightened society. I was wrong.”

He proceeds to draw on his own experience with GaTa and Elz, both of whom play integral roles in Dave. “I began doing college shows, and the way some of these kids would talk to GaTa was insane,” he reflects. “I’ve been to a party where I heard somebody say they were gonna curb stomp him. Or then we would hang out with seemingly nice people, only to then be accused of stealing their laptop the next day. Nobody ever accused me of stealing anything before I hung out with GaTa.”

Admitting that he has “no idea what to do moving forward,” Dicky does understand that it’s important for those with a platform and a voice should use their position to help the cause. “Those of us unaffected every day by racism need to fight harder than anyone,” he writes. “It is our responsibility as human beings.” Check out his full statement below, and should you be interested in taking action, look to his caption for advice on who to reach out to.

Danielle Bregoli, better known as Bhad Bhabie, is known to stir up all kinds of trouble for herself with her loose lips, this time, however, it’s her lack of words that is causing controversy. Bhad Bhabie is being called out this morning by fellow female rapper Chika, after her silence on the murder of George Floyd and the series of demonstrations and protests that have been taking place across the country as a result. 

In a series of tweets, Chika points out that the infamous “Gucci Flip Flops” rapper, who usually has a hard time keeping her mouth shut, has not said a word about the ongoing fight against police brutality, nor has she participated in any protests or demonstrations. Bregoli has neither used her platform nor her privilege to speak out about police brutality. Chika points out in the tweet, “we really ain’t caught her outside not once. hmm.”

In the wake of more violent protests and demonstrations in dozens of American cities over the weekend in response to the murder of an unarmed Black man, George Floyd, by law enforcement, Donald Trump has continued to recommend the forceful suppression of protestors in a video teleconference with law enforcement and national security officials on Monday. 

President Trump, who was hiding out in the White House bunker as protesting came to the White House doors, delivered a message to the country’s governors as unrest continues. “Most of you are weak,” Trump reportedly told governors, “You have to arrest people.” 

He added, “You’ve got to arrest people, you have to track people, you have to put them in jail for 10 years and you’ll never see this stuff again. We’re doing it in Washington, D.C. We’re going to do something that people haven’t seen before."

Trump urged governors to call up the National Guard, which helped calm the situation in Minneapolis Sunday night. Trump told governors they were making themselves “look like fools” for not using the National Guard to suppress the protestors. Attorney General Bill Barr was also on the call and informed governors a terrorist task force would be used to track protestors. 

In difficult times rife with racial injustice and police brutality, hip-hop has made sure to stand up and lead by example. Many of the game’s veterans have already used their platform to speak on the death of George Floyd, and the plight that thousands still experience in the face of systemic racism. From Dr. Dre’s Young Money Radio appearance to Jay-Z’s emotional appeal to the Minnesota governor, to Killer Mike’s powerful speech to his fellow Atlanta residents, the OGs have been vocal in the face of adversity.

Today, another voice has been added, and an impactful one at that. LL Cool J, rap legend and host of Sirius XM’s Rock The Bells Radio, has picked up the pen and issued a spoken word verse titled “Black Lives Matter.” His eyes red, LL spits with fire and fury, declaring his intentions within the opening moments. “For 400 years you had your knees on our necks,” he raps. “A garden of evil with no seeds of respect / in America’s mirror all she sees is regret / instead of letting blood live, they begging for blood let.” 

The passion in his voice is evident, and it’s inspirational to watch LL lay his cards on the table in such an emotional fashion. A lyricist to the core, LL’s “Black Lives Matter” is a well-written testimony to the power of the hip-hop artform. Big respect to the legendary rapper for holding it down — see LL’s deliver his message for yourself below.